Nocturnal Animals
2016 · Directed by Tom Ford
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
The story
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.
What it’s like
Cool, polished frames and a restrained palette of white-walled minimalist rooms, glossy Los Angeles dusk and pale grey light give the present-day scenes a chilled, expensive stillness. The story within the story shifts into sun-bleached West Texas: dusty highways, flat desert horizons and harsh noon glare, shot with a hard, saturated edge. Long, deliberate takes and symmetrical compositions hold on faces and empty spaces, while Abel Korzeniowski's tense, mournful strings swell and drop away. The vibe is elegant dread and regret, a quiet, brooding unease that suits a late-night sit alone rather than a casual watch. Pacing is slow and controlled, with the emotional weight building in long silences. The arcs follow a wounded woman confronting the choices that shaped her, and a grieving man who pours his pain into his writing. Intensity is high: adultery and explicit sexual content, some nudity, grim cruelty, and a brief but brutal violent sequence with a shocking, sudden death. Despite the restraint, it lands hard. This is for viewers who want moody, meticulously styled drama with a dark, lingering sting, not anything gentle.
More films like Nocturnal Animals
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Nocturnal Animalsand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
